Rail-joint.



H. HARDISIY.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB, 3. 1915. 1,1 59,377. Patented Nov. 9, 19145. "5 '/IIr I," l IIII .f'I/I IL 8 l\\ l/"f 1 l`\ l 7 I f if l I 76 I #f--J o Il Y i .g/"Y' 1:-

l I l 17 wl/IFN. 17 III, LII-.J |1111 fr I ATTORNEY @NTTF STATES FATENT. FFQE.

HENRY HARDISTY, OF RAYMOND, WASHNGTON', ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ELIAS PIERSON, GF SOUTH BEND, VASHING-TON.

RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

i T all whom t 'may concern Be it known that I, HENRY HARDISTY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Raymond, in the county of Pacific and State of Vashington, have invented a new and useful Rail-Joint, of whichfthe following is a specification.

This invention has reference to railjoints and its object is to provide a oint for use in conjunction with the abutting ends of railway rails, whereby the use of bolts and nuts to hold the rails and fish plates in place is wholly obviated.

Tn accordanceV with the present invention there is provided a chair of sulilcient length to include so much of the abutting ends. or" the rails as is usually occupied by the fish plates. One side of the chair has a permanent fish plate thereon having pins or lugs positioned to enter the usual bolt holes at the abutting ends of the rails, while the other side of the chair is formed with an abutment member having the face directed toward thefish plate ata slight anglethereto. There is also provided a movable fish plate adapted to engage the rail', while bey tween the abutment portion of the chair and the removable fish plate there is provided an elongated wedge having a nut and screw connection with one end of the abut-ment portion of the chair and arranged to receive a nut lock whereby the wedge is held against any possibility of escape or loosening when once positioned. The wedge and the iish plate with which it engages and also the abutment or wedge engaging portion of the chair are interactingly constructed to constrain the parts to retain their positions against liability of displacement under traffic conditions.

YThe invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following dedeparture from the salient tailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings 'forminor a part of this specification, with the further understanding that while the drawings show a practical form of the invention, the latter is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings, but may be changed nand modilied sov long as such changes andmodiiicatio-ns mark no material features Vof the invention. 1

Tn the drawings :-Figure l isa plan view Vthere are also shown ties 3 arranged so as to support the joint. Resting on the ties is a rail chair 4 of suflicient length to rest near the ends upon the ties 3, and this chair has its base portion thickened, as shown at 5, to project into thespace between the ties 3, thus preventing longitudinal movements of the track rails-and chair with respect to the ties. Each track rail 1 and 2 is provided with the usual bolt holes 6.

The chair 4 is of a length'to include the abutting ends of the rails for a distance to also include the bolt holes 6 and is of a width to support the rails and provide certain other structures.

Rising from one side of the chair near the corresponding edge is a fish plate 7, so called because of its function, but constructed in `the corresponding flanges of the rails 1 and 2. Projecting from that face of the plate 7 'tovv'ard the rail are lugs 10 sufficient in number and properly positioned to project through the bolt holes 6 to hold the rails against longitudinal movement in the manner usually provided bolts.

The base portion of the chair underrides the flange of each rail 1 and 2 for about for by the customary half the width of the rail flange and for the'V remainder of the width of the rail flange the upper surface of the base portion of the chair is depressed, as shown at 11. This depressed portion is occupied by a longitudinal flange 12 on the bottom of another sh.

plate 13 adapted to engage thatV side of the web of the rail remote from the fish plate 7. The flange 12 and the fish plate 13 define between them a channel 14 of a suitable size and shape to inclose the corresponding halfJ of the bottom flange ofthe track rail from that housed in the chanhel 9.

That face of the fish plate 13 remote from the track is formed near what may be termed` its upper edge with a longitudinal groove 15 for a purpose to be described.

Rising from that side of the chair remote from the fish plate 7 is an upstanding abut- `-ment wall 16 spaced away from the fish plate 7 sufficiently to receive the fish plate 13 and other parts to be described. The

Aabutment wall is arranged slightly out of Vparallelism with the fish plate f so as to be nearer at one end to it than at the other end. The abutment wall 16 may, therefore, be described as inclined with respect tothe fish 'y has a terminal portion 18 directed toward the corresponding end of the fish plate 7 or la prolongation thereof. The face of the wall 16 toward the fish plates is formed with a longitudinal projecting bead 19 for a purpose to be described. There is also provided an elongated block 2O shown separately in Fig. 5 and tapering on one side from one end toward the other in conformity with the taper of the wall 16. rfhis elongated block which may be termed a Vwedge block has on one face a longitudinal bead 21 and on the other face alongitudinal groove 22, while the bottom of the block is formed with a bevel 23. At one end of the block, this being the smaller end, there is a screw rod 241 prolonged axially from the block and adapted to traverse a suitable passage in the angle extension 18 of the wall 16. p

When the chair is properly located upon the ties 3 and held in place by the ordinary spikes indicated in dotted lines at 25 in Fig.

l, the edges of the chair being notched, as

shown at 26, for the purpose of receiving the spikes, the ends of the rails 1 and 2 are placed in the chair until they are in end abutment or nearly so, and then these rails are moved sidewise until against the fish plate 7 with the pins 10 traversing the passages 6, the rails being then supported by the chair where the fianges of the rail underlie the fish plate 7. Now, the fish plate 13 is applied, and this may be done by moving' the fish plate longitudinally upon the chair from that end corresponding to the wider spacing of the wall 16 with relation to the fish plate or wall 7, so that the flange 12 of the fish plate 13 is in underriding relationV to the corresponding portion of the rail .fiange and the fish plate is in engagement with the corresponding facesV of the webs of the rails; When the parts are. in position as described, the wedge blockV 20 is introduced between the wall 16 'and the fish plate 13 with the bead 21 entering the groove 15 and the bead 19 entering the groove 22. These beads or ribs and the grooves entered by them serve as supporting and guiding members for the wedge block,- whilev being adjusted, and also hold the wedge block against any rising movement. The fish plate 13 cannot rise because of the engagement of the `rails 1 and'and the latter are held by the fixed fish plate 7. Moreover, the fish plate 13 is further held-by the engagement of thebeveled edge 23 ofthe wedge 2O with the corresponding portion of the fish plate, which is also suitably beveled for the purpose.

The parts are so proportioned that the wedge block 20 may be moved into the space between the fish plate `13 and the wall 16 until nearly seated therein, and with the threaded rod or stem 24 proj ecting through the angle extension 18 ofthe wall 16, this extension being sufficient for theapplication of a nut 27 to the threaded stem 24 and the application of a nut lock 28 between the nut 27 and thewall 18. I l

Any suitableform .of nut lock may be employed, but it is preferred to use a nut lock shown and described in my application No. 872,570, filed Nov. *17, 1914, and the showing of the .drawings in this respectv conforms to the showing of said application.

When the wedge 20 is drawn tightly into place by the tightening of the nut 27', the abutting ends of the two rails are firmly united against possibility of longitudinal movement, or of lateral movement with respect one to the other. The chair is particularly resistant to forces due to the lweight of passing trains, since the chair is greatly stiffened by the.y upright fish 'plate 7` and wall 16, and this stiffness is also aided by the presence of the`fish plate 13. These parts also greatly stiffen the chair-against lateral strains from any cause.

The'wedge block together with thelongitudinally inclined wall 16 of approximately the same length as the chair forms a wedging bearing of a correspondingly great length readily drawn into tight seating by the nut 27 to be there, held by the nut lock 28 against accidental displacement, and all the parts are-'further made rigid andunyielding and free fromliability of either looseness or displacement by the beads or ribs 19 and 21 and the grooves or channels 15 and 22. n Y lVhat is claimed is z- 1. A railway chair provided with two latl one wall being longitudinally inclined, a fish plate adapted to the space between the upstanding walls and of a thickness to be in spaced relation to the longitudinally inclined wall when the fish plate is in engagement with a track'rail, and an elongated wedge block of a thickness to fill the space between the fish plate and the` longitudinally inclined wall, said wedge block, the inclined wall and the fish plate being provided with coacting longitudinal beads and grooves where contacting, and the wedge block when in place extending both above and below the beads and grooves.

2. A railway chair having laterally spaced longitudinally disposed upstanding walls in one piece therewith, one of' the walls constituting a fish plate and provided on the inner face with projecting studs adapted to traverse the usual bolt holes in the abutting ends of track rails, and the other wall being longitudinally inclined with respect to the first wall and terminating at one end in an extension directed toward the first wall, a fish plate adapted to the space between the first-named fish plate and the inclined wall and of a thickness to be in spaced relation to the inclined wall when engaging a track rail against the first-named fish plate, and an elongated wedge block having a threaded stem extension adapted to be passed through the terminal extension of the inclined wall to there receive a nut.

said wedge block, second-named fish plate and inclined wall having coacting longitudinal grooves and beads and the wedge block extending both grooves and beads.

3. A rail joint structure comprising an elongated chair having upstanding members in laterally spaced relation, one of' the members constituting a fish plate and being provided with studs projecting toward the other member in position to traverse bolt holes in the meeting ends of two track rails when lodged in the chair, and said chair having a depressed portion on the rail receiving part, another fish plate adapted to the space between an installed rail and the upstanding member remote from the firstnamed fish plate and provided with a lon'gitudin'al flange adapted to under-ride the flange of the rails in said depressed portion of the chair, and an elongated wedge block adaptedto the space between the second-named fish plate and the upstanding portion of the chair remote from the first-named fish plate, said second-named upstanding portion and second-named fish plate and the wedge being provided with coacting grooves and beads, and the wedge having a beveled surface adapted to engage the second-named fish plate at a point below the enacting beaded and grooved portions of the fish plate and wedge.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY HARDISTY.

Witnesses:

E. F. RHODES, ANNA HARDISTY.

above and below said Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

